October 26, 2006

October 20, 2006

If you are not familiar, I wrote a short post on Nayo and her music a month or so ago. Her new single, 'African Girl' should be available in stores on November 13th and according to her Myspace Page, she will be performing at The Cobden Club on November 16th, so if you are a fan out there in London, you should go check her out live.

Nayo and I had a recent email exchange and I had nine questions for her:

1. Question: Nayo how's it going with ya. First things First, when is the album coming out and what is it called? Is it finished?

Answer: Things are very well, thanks for asking. The album will be released in the UK sometime next year. The album title will be revealed closer to the time as it isn’t yet finished. But it will be finished by November. The first song from the album ‘African Girl’ will be released to radio and available at retail everywhere in the UK sometime in November.

2. Question: Tell us something about you? Where did you grow up?

Answer: I was born in Lagos Nigeria, and partly raised in the UK, but mostly in Nigeria

3. Question: I know a while back, you had a hit single "Party Fever", I'm sure a bunch of folks were waiting for an album to follow up the single. What Happened?

Answer: Well with Party Fever, I was so far from doing an album. I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was just having fun co-writing this song and pressing about 1000 copies and somehow the song found its way on the Billboard Club Play charts and still gets played around every now and then. That totally convinced me that it was time to proceed with making a full length album.

4. Question: Everybody loves your voice. I even saw a quote on your myspace page "Her Voice Tastes Like Fine Wine". Did you always have a voice this sweet, even back in Nigeria? When did you discover that your voice was so good?

Answer: (Laugh) Well….yeah. It’s so gracious of everyone. Sometimes, I find it really amusing as I begged and begged to join the choir as a kid and I was told to play triangle because my voice wasn’t as angelic as the other girls. So I began writing my songs and singing them in my quiet time. So, no! I never thought my voice was sweet. Infact, I only sang in the church where it was hard to differentiate one person’s voice from the other.

5. Question: Who are some of the people who have inspired you musically and what genre would you classify your style of music?

Answer: I have been inspired by EBTG, Fela Kuti, Bob Dylan, Carole King to name a few. I find my music indefinable as it’s simply art but if you insist I place it somewhere between Ambient Pop/Soul.

7. Question: Did you write "African Girl", if yes what inspired it? That is a pretty good song.

Answer: I co-wrote African Girl with an amazing producer K.Warren. He put a track together in about 15 mins after I had called from the station to let him know that my train had been delayed. Upon my arrival, I just said I want to write a song called African Girl simply because who I am. He finished the track and I wrote the top line. It was such a fulfilling experience because I felt it has true to its purpose.

8. Question: What can we expect from the album?

Answer: Well, its completely original. Its very honest and stems from personal experiences and/or experiences of others that are very close to me. I wrote about 4 songs on the album and co-wrote the entire album with amazing writers. There are no samples. I have just been fortunate to have worked with such talented producers as well as some of the best musicians in my opinion. The premise was to create something that would be very representative of me - A Nigerian girl currently in diaspora growing and evolving each day. I am absolutely proud of it.

9. Question: Anything else you want say?

Answer: Thanks so much for your support and spreading the word about my music particularly at these early stages. I really appreciate it and I hope that you like the album. Cheers, Peace, Love + NAYO